Oak Cliff Film Festival is a film festival held annually in the

Oak Cliff Oak Cliff is an area of Dallas, Texas, United States that was formerly a separate town in Dallas County; established in 1887 and annexed by Dallas in 1903, Oak Cliff has retained a distinct neighborhood identity as one of Dallas' older establ ...

neighborhood of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas. It showcases films made by or featuring individuals from Texas and the surrounding region. Its programming spans every genre, focused on

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, non-mainstream films both narrative and documentary.

About

Oak Cliff Film Festival (OCFF) emphasizes programming experimental, nontraditional, and low-budget independent films otherwise overlooked by more mainstream festivals. Events at the festival include drive-in movies, live orchestrations of silent films, screenings of newly remastered older films, and Texas/Dallas premieres. OCFF, partnered with the Austin Film Society, filmmaker David Lowery, and Tim Headington’s Ley Line Entertainment to offer grant funds for emerging North Texas filmmakers. This initiative included the North Texas Pioneer Film Grant of $30,000, specifically aimed at promoting filmmakers from the Dallas-Fort Worth area with underrepresented perspectives. OCFF also hosts student workshops covering fundamentals of filmmaking including writing, producing, directing and post-production.

History

First occurring from June 14–17 in 2012, the Oak Cliff Film Festival (OCFF) was founded by four independent filmmakers, Barak Epstein, Eric Steele, Adam Donaghey, and Jason Reimer, interested in fostering the film community in Dallas and the surrounding region. The four initial founders had purchased the historic

Texas Theatre The Texas Theatre is a movie theater and Dallas landmark located in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. It gained historical significance on November 22, 1963, as the location of Lee Harvey Oswald's arrest over the suspicion he was the ...

cinema in 2010 and continue to use this venue as the primary venue for the festival. Some years of the festival have included screenings held in different locations across Dallas, including

Kessler Theater The Kessler Theater is a historic entertainment venue, originally constructed in 1941, and located in the Winnetka Heights neighborhood of Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas. History The Kessler initially served as a neighborhood movie house, providing ...

and Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Belmont Hotel, the Dallas Zoo, Oil and Cotton, Turner House, and El Sibil. The 3–4-day festival continues to be organized by and receive financial support from the Oak Cliff Film Society.

Awards

The Oak Cliff Film Festival announces jury awards each year.

2012

The narrative features jury included Bryan Poysner and Dennis Bishop. The documentary features jury included Bradley Beesley and David Hartstein. The shorts juries included Daniel Laabs, Steve Norwood, Eric Jewel, Cynthia Mulcahy, Mike Mazurek, Frank Mosley, and Ya’Ke Smith. The music video jury included Audra Schroeder and Pete Freedman.

2013

The OCFF 2013 narrative features jury were Kim Yutani, A.A. Dowd, and Steve Dollar. The documentary features jury David Hartstein, Sam Douglas, and Peter Simek. The shorts juries included Clay Liford, Dennis Bishop, Cynthia Mulcahy, Bart Weiss, and Carolyn Macartney.

2014

Jury members in 2014 were Chase Whale, Zach Clark, James M. Johnston,

Matt Grady Factory 25 is a Brooklyn-based independent film distribution and production company, founded by Matt Grady in 2009. History Grady founded ''Factory 25'' in 2009 after leaving a position as director of production at Plexifilm. The name ''Factory 25 ...

, Peter Simek, Melina McKinnon Cain, Tom Aberg, Mike Morris, Clay Liford, Tom Anderson, Barton Weiss,

Eugene Martin Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

2015

2015 jury members were

Augustine Frizzell Augustine Frizzell (born July 27, 1979) is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She made her feature film directorial debut with '' Never Goin' Back'' (2018). Early life Growing up in Garland, Texas, Frizzell attended South Gar ...

, Christine Gaines, Norry Nivens, Liz Franke, Laure Neitzel, Joe Dishner, Casey Gooden, Cameron Bruce Nelson, Blair Rowan, and Barton Weiss.

2016

Jurors in 2016 were

Aaron Hillis Aaron Hillis is an American writer, film critic, director, film festival programmer, and curator. Career Hillis has been active in independent film, especially within the fields of indie festivals, exhibitions, indie film distribution and progra ...

, David Lowery, Michael Tully, Holly Herrick, Richard Matson,

, James Johnston, Joe Dishner, Geoff Marslet, Bart Weiss, Derek Kompare, Chase Whale, Jerry White, and Kerry Navarro.

2017

Jurors for the 2017 Oak Cliff Film Festival awards were Eric Allen Hatch, Michael Tully, Kyle Greenberg, Sai Selvarajan,

Don Lewis Don Lewis (March 26, 1941 – November 6, 2022) was an American vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic engineer. He created an instrument called the Live Electronic Orchestra (LEO), which integrated multiple instruments under a controlle ...

, David Sedman, Zach Clark,

, Joe Dishner,

Joe Butler Joseph Campbell Butler (born September 16, 1941) is an American drummer, singer and actor. He is best known as a member of folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful, where he was their drummer and later lead vocalist, the group had seven top 10 hits ...

, Jeff Walker, Bart Weiss, and Glenys Quick.

2018

, Dan Brawley, and Gabe Klinger juried the Narrative Feature nominees. Betsey Holt, Judd Myers, and Andrew Logan juried the Narrative Short nominees. Jennifer Samani, Joshua Butler, and Neil Creque Williams juried the Documentary Feature nominees. Linda Eddy, Andy Streitfeld, and Ardis Campbell juried the Documentary Shorts nominees. Bart Weiss, Lizette Barrera, and Eric Jewell juried the Student Short nominees.

2021

2022

2023

Festival jurors in 2023 were Neal Creque Williams, Bradford Thomason, Merced Eliondo, Kelly Williams, Leigh Steglitz, Linda Eaddy, Amber Ekleberry, Bart Weiss, Claire Dejarnett, Gina Cuomo, Ardis Campbell, Rebekah Louisa Smith, Craig Miller, Marielena Resendiz, and Randall Kramen.

2024

References

{{Reflist Film festivals established in 2012 Film festivals in Texas